ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. – TheUniversity of Idaho track and
field 4x400m relay team broke a 12-year school record Saturday at the Western
Athletic Conference Championships.

The quartet of junior Karlene Hurrel, senior Lauren
Schaffer, senior Keli Hall and senior Liga Velvere ran a time of 3:41.57
breaking the previous school record of 3:43.48 from the 2001 season.

Senior Barry Britt won the 3000m with a time of
8:29.85 to give him two titles for the weekend. He was honored with WAC Track
Performer of The Year and The WAC High Point Award. He becomes the first Idaho
man to win both the 3000m and 5000m at a single conference meet.

“Breaking
this record is goal we have had for the entire season,” Idaho director of track
and field Wayne Phipps said. “The girls ran an amazing race, and it was great
to break the record at a conference meet.”

The Vandal men finished the conference meet in fifth
place with 64 points, 21 points ahead of sixth-place Louisiana Tech, while the
women finished in sixth with 71.50 points.

Leading the Vandal women was junior Hannah Kiser who
won the 3000m for a third-consecutive year with a time of 9:40.35, earning her
a First-Team All-WAC honor. Kiser beat her previous WAC record by five seconds.
Also key was senior Liga Velvere who won the 800m also for a third consecutive
year with a time of 2:08.53 and earned a First-Team All-WAC honor.

On the men’s side, sophomore Ben Ayesu-Attah ran a
career-best time of 47.23 to win the 400m dash by more than a second. His time
beats his previous leading WAC time of 47.37 and ranks 49th-fastest
in the NCAA so far this season.

In all the Vandals finished with 10 First-Team
All-WAC honors and 10 Second-Team honors during the weekend.

“People seemed to be affected by the altitude, and
we had some struggles with that,” Phipps said. “But we still had many
outstanding performances during the conference meet.

“I think this was a good start for the entire track
season, and we are looking forward to outdoor.”